CATALOGUE NOTE:The Lobi migrated into Burkina Faso from present day Ghana around 1770, and many of them crossed the border into contemporary CÃ´te d'Ivoire over the next hundred years or so in search of uncultivated lands. Although Lobi villages are often very independent and so politically disorganized, they managed to put up a strong resistance to French colonialization. They revere spirits known as Thil. Shrines are built to these spirits under the instruction of a sorcerer and placed either on the roof or inside the home and are filed with objects such as vessels, abstract iron figures, stone and wood figures known as Bateba, which are believe to embody the Thil spirits. Lobi Bateba figures may be small or very large in size. They typically have slightly bent legs with roughly carved feet and an enlarged head with a high smooth or grooved coiffure. Some type of Bateba may be carved with different postures corresponding to various Thil. Statues with single raised arm symbolize a dangerous Thil, while copulating couples or maternity figures are believed to enhance the fertility of women living in the house.